Marinated olives the Moroccan way: 6 ways of making "zitoun mchermel"

This post is all about how to marinate cured olives the Moroccan way. As I have promised in the previous post about Moroccan olives, I'll pass on to you some of our family recipes on how to reproduce the marinated olives you find in the Moroccan stalls and Moroccan olive shops.

From left to right: Moroccan pickles, green olives with spinach and herbs, green and violette olives with harissa and garlic, plain pitted green olives

We have a few recipes which are so easy to make. So if you love olives, then you're in the right place.

Harissa all the way!

I'll be using 250g of olives for all the following recipes. I must say that the additions are all a matter of choice, so adding or reducing garlic, harissa, herbs is all up to you.

Green olives with garlic and fresh parsley and coriander in the making

Like I mentioned here, unpitted olives which are not floating in tons of brines are the best thing to get but if you really (but really) can't then the others will do.

This is an amazing mix I bought from the olives guy, he mixed marinated green olives pickles and rice, This goes straight in sandwiches or is added to briouats and rolls fillings, to seafood bestillas...

Notes before getting started

1- Depending on how they've been handled, some olives might be harder than others. Nothing wrong with that. However, if you have hard olives in your hands (as opposed to soft), then make sure you place them in boiling water for 15 min at least twice then drain and pat-dry them before going ahead with the marination.

2- A pestle and mortar is much better to obtain the pastes used for the marinades.

4- These recipes are mostly to guide you to on how to get some of those pastes commonly used by Casablanca olive shops (If you happen to be there, grab a taxi and head to Benjdia Market (7 am to 5 pm) in downtown Casablanca or Friday's market or Marche Jem'aa not far from El Houbous.

Today's recipes are all in here!

Ingredients

250g of unpitted olives (ideally done by you)

Prep: 5 min - No cooking required

1- Olives with chermoula (any kind)

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or in paste

3 tbps of fresh parsley and coriander, finely chopped

1 to 2 tbsp of preserved lemons with the core, chopped

1 tsp of paprika

1/2 tsp of cayenne or 1 heaped tsp of mild harissa, or to taste

1/2 tsp of cumin

1 tbsp of lemon juice, freshly squeezed

3 tbsps of olive oil.

The soft black olives are marinated with chermoula made using a pestle and mortar (we were generous with the preserved lemons)

2- Olives with harissa

2 tbsps of mild harissa or to taste

1 to 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or in paste (optional)

3 tbsps of olive oil

Harissa can be mild or hot. We prefer the mild version because it brings the flavour without disturbing the palate

3- Olives with thyme and garlic (goes well with soft Moroccan black olives)

2 heaped tablespoons of dried thyme

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or in paste

Enough olive oil to cover half of the olives (which I use for cooking or for salads)

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About Author

I'm Nada, a London-based Moroccan food expert. I am a mother of two little boys who keeps my hands full. I lived in different places and that made me realize how I miss Moroccan food. I moved to write extensively about it and I hope you will enjoy reading my posts and trying my family recipes as much as I enjoy writing them. You can also find me at tasteofmaroc.com where I publish authentic recipes and write about some cultural aspects of the Moroccan society.

About Me

I'm Nada, a London-based Moroccan food expert. I am a mother of two little boys who keeps my hands full. I lived in different places and that made me realize how I miss Moroccan food. I moved to write extensively about it and I hope you will enjoy reading my posts and trying my family recipes as much as I enjoy writing them. You can also find me at tasteofmaroc.com where I publish authentic recipes and write about some cultural aspects of the Moroccan society.